Gurriel landed in hot water when he appeared to be mocking Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish, who is half Japanese, during Game 3 of the World Series. The Cuban led off the second inning with a huge home run, but upon returning to the dugout, he made what appeared to be a “slant eyes” gesture.

That didn’t sit well with Dodgers fans, who showered Gurriel with boos when the series returned to Los Angeles with Game 6 on Tuesday night. Starting pitcher Rich Hill was happy to help with those efforts. When Gurriel came to the plate in the second inning, the lefty took his time and walked off the mound twice before throwing the first pitch, essentially stalling the game to let the batter really hear it from the crowd.

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While pitchers have been known to take their time during the biggest games, that wasn’t the case in this situation. Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reported that Hill was upset by Gurriel’s actions and that he referred to his steps off the mound as “my silent gesture.”

“The one thing was just to let the crowd speak their mind,” Hill said. “I didn’t think anything else would be as loud as that.”

Gurriel apologised for his actions last week, while Darvish has maintained that he was not bothered by the taunt. Gurriel did not speak to reporters after Tuesday’s game, but Astros designated hitter Carlos Beltran defended his teammate.

“But at the end of the day, Yuli is a good man,” Beltran said, according to Andrew Marchand of ESPN. “He made a mistake and he apologised. It was offensive for Yu Darvish, but he was able to turn the page right away. He had some good quotes focusing on the positive and not the negative.”

Gurriel has been suspended without pay for the first five games of next season, costing him about $US320,000.